Friends of Murphys Point Park

Hemaris thysbe

The hummingbird clearwing is a very unique moth that can be found in Murphys Point! Unlike most moths, the hummingbird clearwing is a diurnal flying moth, meaning that it flies during the day instead of the night like most moths! They look like a hummingbird and have transparent wings which is the more obvious derivation of their name. The Latin name Thysbe also has an interesting background, it comes from the story of Pyramus and Thisbe which is the precursor to Romeo and Juliet. The reason it has this name is because of the rusty red colour of the moth that looks like blood. This represents the bloodshed that happens in Romeo and Juliet. All in all, this is one of the park’s most fascinating and beautiful insects, and if you want to see them in the park, the field at the Lally Homestead can be a very good place to look on a sunny day!

Seiurus aurocapilla

Ovenbirds are a large, olive-brown warbler with a distinctive orange crown that have a very different behaviour to other warblers. Most warblers spend their time up in the treetops feeding, but ovenbirds prefer to spend their time closer to the ground foraging. They’re hard to see with this behaviour, but they have a very distinct song that makes them easier to find. If you are walking around Murphys Point and hear a bird that sounds like its saying “teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher” repeatedly, keep your eye out on the ground because you may just see this elusive bird! A lot of birds are named for their colours, but ovenbirds are actually named for the nest the female makes. The females make nests in the shape of an oven on the ground which is where the name comes from!

Scientific name: Peromyscus maniculatus

It was a few weeks ago, during one of our Silver Queen Mine open houses, that we opened up one of the miner’s storage trunks to find a family of three little deer mice curled up in an old shoe! The deer mouse is a small rodent that ranges from 11-18 cm in length. Their most distinguishing feature are their round eyes that are noticeably larger than those of other Ontario mice species. Their main food source is seeds, but as an opportunistic species, they will eat things like berries, insects, and fungi.